Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to foldable bow saws or collapsible saws, sometimes referred to as pack saws.
Related Art
Campers and outdoor enthusiasts alike need a portable—yet effective—crosscut saw to cut firewood, de-limb trees, and/or clear trails of branches and boughs. As well, homers require a portable hone/meat saw to perform animal butchering in the field. Since the saw is often carried by the individual, it needs to be small, light weight, and compact. One of the most popular crosscut saw types is the ‘bow saw’ or ‘Swede saw’. The modern bow saw consists of a slender saw blade connected and tensioned to a metal frame in the shape of an archer's bow. The bow saw's ergonomic design makes it possibly the best hand-held tool for crosscutting wood branches or boughs. Nevertheless, traditional bow saws have a rigid metal frame and, as a result, are not very compact and are difficult to pack and carry by an outdoor enthusiast. Various foldable saws have been proposed, see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,266,806, 5,440,816, 3,191,648, 4,580,344, 5,208,986, 4,499,936, 2,930,420, 3,245,445, and several foldable saws are commercially available. However, each of these saws has short comings in meeting the desirable objectives of a compact, packable saw: easy and quick set up and take down, light weight, and providing the sawing performance of a traditional bow saw.